Future of robotics
This article is about the future of robotics for civil use.
Applications
Caterpillar plans to develop remote controlled machines and expects to develop fully autonomous heavy robots by 2021. Some cranes already are remote controlled.
It was demonstrated that a robot can perform a herding task.
Robots are increasingly used in manufacturing (since the 1960s). In the auto industry they can amount for more than half of the "labor". There are even "lights off" factories such as an IBM keyboard manufacturing factory in Texas that is 100% automated.
Robots such as HOSPI are used as couriers in hospitals (hospital robot). Other hospital tasks performed by robots are receptionists, guides and porters helpers, (not to mention surgical robot helpers such as Da Vinci)
Robots can serve as waiters and cooks., also at home. Boris is a robot that can load a dishwasher.
Materials
Soft and squishy robots: phase-change materials could allow even low-cost robots to switch between hard and soft states.
Flexible machining robot: foamed polystyrene materials would cut the cost of the industrial robots.
